Rocky Horizon
by idealskeptic
Summary: Sue Clearwater knew her son would turn into a wolf. In the space of a few hours, her daughter turned into a wolf, her husband died, and her son turned into a wolf. It would've been too easy to give up hope, but she didn't. What if she went in search of a release like Bella did in New Moon? What if Charlie found her on the cliffs? One-shot. AU.


**I don't own a word of this.**

**A/N: **I briefly entertained notions of doing the PTB prompt a week challenge thing-y but I didn't get far. I did however write a few of the prompts way back in February and I couldn't think of a reason not to post what I wrote so… here is the first one.

The prompt was _**rocky horizon **_and I chose to write a one-shot focused on Sue Clearwater. It's set in _New Moon _and it is AU at the end.

I hope you like it!

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**Rocky Horizon**

She escaped from the crowd of people mourning her husband's death as soon as she could. Billy was holding court and Sam took her children back into the woods. So she fled to the cliffs.

The wind whipped her long, black hair and she could feel the spray of the water even high up above it. But she wanted to fly. She wanted to fall.

She walked backward to the tree line and then started to run. When she reached the edge, she flung herself off with all the strength she had.

She hit the water hard and the breath was knocked out of her, but she'd jumped a hundred times when she was a teenager and she knew how to right herself.

Hidden in the angry, violent waves, she let out every emotion she'd kept bottled up since she found out that her world wasn't anything that she thought it was, since she became a widow and a mother to wolves.

She screamed and she cried and she thrashed.

Only when she felt her strength start to wane did she take three deep, gasping breaths before she swam toward the shore. Summoning all the strength left in her body, she pulled herself onto the dry, rocky beach and collapsed in an exhausted heap.

Her entire body convulsed with each breath she took, and the sharp pains in her chest and limbs reminded her that, in spite of it all, she was still alive. She had things to live for, her children. The reminder gave her a sense of peace and a sense of purpose.

Without standing up, she squirmed into a new position. She didn't want to look at the trees. The past and the present were behind the trees. She couldn't avoid them, but she didn't want to look at them just then. She wanted to look at the future, the rocky horizon.

James Island stood the tallest, the proud final resting place of her people.

But it was ringed by smaller islands; their rocky, jagged outlines just visible on the horizon line of the fog shrouded ocean and those were the islands that interested her.

Maybe it was from the over-exertion of staying afloat in the water or maybe it was from a lack of oxygen she hadn't realized happened, but her mind was strangely, calmly philosophical as she looked at those islands.

They were more than just islands. They were her future.

The future would never be smooth and effortless. It would be dangerous and difficult, threatening to pull her under at any moment. Each island was something else that needed to be faced, to be conquered.

That was her future, that was her horizon.

She had to face it alone now.

And that was the most frightening thing of all.

Her breathing slowed to something only mildly uncomfortable and already she ached to feel the pain of being alive again. So she staggered to her feet and tried to make her mind focus on what to do, how to get back what she was missing.

She took four steps toward the white-capped waves and stopped, swaying steadily as the sky opened and rain pounded down around her. The storm made it hard to see the rocky horizon she was holding onto so tightly. She had only one option.

She had to climb back up to the top of the cliffs and jump off again.

That was the only thing that would make it momentarily right in the world. And it had to be right, otherwise she wouldn't be able to get the guidance she needed so badly from the horizon.

She could barely stand when she reached the top of the cliffs. She'd fallen four times, and her clothes were torn and muddy but she didn't notice. All that matter was the ending.

She had to write her own ending, even if it was really just another beginning.

She was ready to jump again when she heard a voice in the wind. She didn't want to be interrupted, but she couldn't bring herself to jump and escape the voice, someone who'd probably come looking for her.

Strong arms caught her around the waist seconds before she threw herself into the air again.

"Sue! Sue, stop," a voice shouted in her ear. "What are you doing? Did you already jump once?"

With her eyes firmly fixed on James Island and the rocky outcroppings around it, she nodded. "I need to jump again. I need to face the future again."

"Not by jumping off a cliff," he told her, tightening his grip on her body.

"Jump with me."

"I'm not jumping with you, Sue." He had to holler to be heard over the roaring of thunder.

She turned and stared into his brown eyes. "Do you know where your daughter is, Charlie?" she demanded. When he shook his head, telling her that he didn't, she dug her fingers into his arms. "Jump with me. Jump with me and I'll show you how rocky the horizon is. I'll tell you where your daughter is. I'll tell you why Leah and Seth felt so hot when you hugged them. I'll tell you why Harry died. Jump with me, Charlie."

She knew he'd jump. He'd jumped more as a teenager than she had. To the world, he seemed so quiet and reserved but she knew him better.

He let his arms fall around her, and linked only their fingers together.

They took a dozen steps backward and then ran forward, launching themselves into the air at the same time.

Ten minutes later, when they were lying next to each on the rocky beach, Sue did as she promised. She told him everything.

The storm cleared just as she finished.

The islands, the rocky horizon, were never more stark and daunting than they were then.

She wasn't alone anymore. She didn't have to face the future on her own.

It was selfish, maybe, to drag him into the world she lived in. But he was already in it. Just like she had to know the truth when they told her to treat Emily's wounds, he had to know the reason that none of his life made sense just then.

Maybe they could face that rocky horizon together.

**The End**


End file.
